Gear change mechanism in a vehicle

ABSTRACT

A gear lever ( 7 ) is arranged between the driving seat and the passenger seat in a truck. The gear lever ( 7 ) incorporates a disengageable locking mechanism ( 34 ) by means of which it is possible to lower the gear lever ( 7 ) from a substantially vertical position of use to a position in which it does not limit the driver&#39;s mobility in the cab. When the gear lever ( 7 ) has been lowered, the driver can move from the driving side to the passenger side of the truck.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a 35 U.S.C. §371 national phase of International ApplicationPCT/SE98/01978 filed Nov. 2, 1998.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a gear change mechanism of the kindused in a truck and particularly relates to the gear shift lever for themechanism.

STATE OF THE ART

Trucks are used to meet a wide variety of transport requirements. Onshort journeys the truck often functions purely as a workplace, but onlong journeys it is not merely a workplace but also a sleeping place anda place for recreation and relaxation between periods of work.Accordingly, trucks intended for long-distance transport are providedwith a bed behind the seats and, in some cases, with highly movableseats which, when shifted towards the truck's instrument panel, increasethe driver's maneuvering space in the cab between the bed and the rearseats. In some trucks the bed is arranged above the seats. In suchvehicles a large space is created between the rear of the seats and therear wall of the cab when the seats are shifted towards the instrumentpanel.

As the vehicle driver is most often alone in the cab duringlong-distance runs, a known practice is to remove the passenger seat andreplace it with a simpler seat on the passenger side. This seat is mostoften fitted relatively far back in the vehicle so as to create arelatively large space between it and the instrument panel. As theinterior of a truck cab is relatively cramped, it is difficult for thedriver to move from the driving seat to the bed situated behind theseats or, where applicable, to the relatively large clear area betweenthe rear of the seats and the rear wall of the vehicle. It is alsodifficult for him to move from the driving side to the clear space onthe passenger side.

Said problem is particularly obvious in so called forward-built vehiclesin which the cab is situated above the vehicle's engine. In suchdesigns, the engine often protrudes into the cab between the drivingside and the passenger side. The engine is covered by a noise-dampingengine cover. A gear lever is usually arranged in a mounting which isfastened to the cab and situated in the engine cover. The gear lever isfurther connected to at least one movement-transmitting device arrangedto transmit gear change movements to the vehicle's gearbox. Drivermobility in this type of vehicle is hindered by the fact that the gearlever extends into the cab and limits his freedom of movement. For thedriver to make his way to the bed or any of the clear spaces, hetherefore most often has to climb out of the vehicle and then climb backin behind the seats or on the passenger side. This procedure is ofcourse tiresome and inconvenient, particularly in bad weather or thelike.

Said problem may arise in vehicle types other than trucks. In buses andmobile homes, freedom of movement may be limited by the gear lever, andeven in passenger cars it may be necessary to move easily between thedriving seat and the passenger seat and vice versa.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to make it easier for the driverto move about in the interior of a vehicle. To this end, the inventionis distinguished by a gear lever movable in the interior space of thevehicle, the gear lever being raisable to an upraised use condition andlowerable, a locking mechanism for locking the gear lever upraisedupright and a disengaging device which is manually operated to act uponthe locking mechanism and free the gear lever for being lowered.

The gear lever incorporates a disengageable locking mechanism whichmakes it possible to lower the gear lever from its substantiallyvertical position of use to a position in which it does not limit drivermobility in the cab. When the gear lever has been lowered, the drivercan easily climb over the engine cover to clear areas in the cab or tothe bed. In an advantageous application of the invention, the loweredgear lever abuts against the support, which may be a panel in theinterior of the vehicle or a cover covering the vehicle engine or thelike. In a further advantageous application of the invention, the gearlever is pivotable into a recess in the panel or cover, therebyobviating any kind of hindrance by the gear lever to the driver'smobility in the vehicle.

Other features distinguishing the invention are indicated in the ensuingdescription of an embodiment exemplifying the invention with referenceto the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of a gear change mechanism accordingto the invention, arranged in a vehicle cab.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of a gear change mechanism according to theinvention.

FIG. 3 shows a view from the rear of a gear change mechanism accordingto the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A driving cab 1 is arranged on the truck as schematically depicted inFIG. 1. The cab 1 is suspended on a frame 2 in which an engine 3 and agearbox 4 are suspended. An engine cover 6 covering the engine 3 isarranged in the cab floor. A gear lever 7 is not displaceable relativeto the engine cover 6 or to the cab floor but is otherwise movablewithin a mounting 14. To make it possible to transmit gear changemovements from the gear lever 7 to the gearbox 4, the bottom portion 15of the gear lever 7 is connected via movement-transmitting devices8,9,10,11 to gear change devices (not depicted) in the gearbox 4. Toincrease the vehicle driver's freedom of movement in the cab, the gearlever 7 is lowerable between a position of use and a lowered position.The position of use is represented by continuous lines in FIG. 1, thelowered position by broken contours.

As may be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the gear lever 7 comprises of a firstelement 17 and a second element 18 which are arranged one after anotherand are hingingly connected to one another via a hinge 19. The hinge 19incorporates a pin 20 which extends substantially horizontally in thetransverse direction of the vehicle through a bushing 21 in the lowerend 13 of the first gear lever element 17 and through first and secondsupporting devices 22,23 which are arranged substantially vertically.The axial position of the pin 20 is fixed relative to the bushing 21 andthe supporting devices 22,23 by some form of locking device 24 such as anut, a clip or the like. The supporting devices 22,23 extend parallelwith one another in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and arefirmly connected to the upper portion 25 of the second gear leverelement 18 and are connected to one another by a stop device 26 whichextends substantially vertically. The stop device 26 extends across thevehicle and constitutes a stop device which limits the upward pivotingmovement of the gear lever 7 towards its position of use, as may best beseen in FIG. 2. The first gear lever element 17 is pivotable about thepin 20 from the position of use to a preferably substantially horizontalposition 27 represented by a chain-dotted line in FIG. 2. The first gearlever element 17 is also depicted in its lowered substantiallyhorizontal position.

The first gear lever element 17 is lockable, as may best be seen in FIG.3, against a first stop surface 33 on the stop device 26 by means of alocking mechanism 34 depicted in FIG. 2. The locking mechanism 34 isarranged closer to the top of the gear lever than the pin 20 is, andincorporates a locking device 35 which is arranged to be movablerelative to the stop device 26 between the position in which it abutsagainst a second stop surface 37 on the stop device 26 and a position inwhich it does not abut against the stop device 26. The locking device 35has the form of a locking pin provided with a locking surface 38intended to cooperate with the second stop surface 37 on the stop device26, and an arcuate surface 39 intended to facilitate the locking of thegear lever 7 when it is pivoted upwards. The first stop surface 33 andthe second stop surface 37 consist advantageously of the respectivesides of the stop device 26, which has with advantage a disc-shapedappearance and consists with advantage of a plate or the like. The onestop surface 33 is thus formed on the side of the plate facing theforward direction of the vehicle, while the other stop surface 37 isformed on the side of the plate facing the rear of the vehicle.

The locking device 35 is arranged for movement in an aperture which runsthrough a control device 40 which is connected firmly to the outer sideof the first gear lever element and which is connected to a disengagingdevice 41 which is used for shifting the locking device 35 from theposition which locks the gear lever elements 17,18 to the non-lockingposition. The disengaging device 41 incorporates a hand control 42 whichis movable relative to the gear lever elements 17,18 and designed to beoperated manually in the longitudinal direction of the gear lever inorder to shift the locking device 35 from the locking position to thenon-locking position. In this embodiment the hand control 42 has theform of a sleeve which surrounds the first gear lever element 17 and ismovable relative thereto in the longitudinal direction between a lowerposition in which the locking surface 38 of the locking device 35 abutslockingly against the second stop surface 37 on the stop device 26 andan upper position in which the locking surface 38 of the locking device35 is shifted so far upwards relative to the gear lever elements 17,18as no longer to abut against the stop device 26. The hand control 42 isprovided with a hollow 43 all round it to make it easier to hold.

A spring device 45 is arranged between a bearing surface 44 in the uppergear lever element 17 and the hand control 42. The spring device 45,which advantageously but not necessarily consists of a coil spring whichsurrounds the upper gear lever element 17, is compressed when the handcontrol 42 is raised in order to free the gear lever elements 17,18 fromone another, but its spring action presses the hand control 42 and hencealso the locking device 35 down to the original position as soon as theinfluence of the hand control 42 decreases. A final production versionwill conceal the spring device 45 behind a plastic sleeve or othermasking device. As the gear lever 7 extends substantially in thevertical direction when it is in the operating position, there is norisk of inadvertent gear lever lowering in the event of failure of thespring device 45. The weight of the disengaging device 41 and thelocking device 34 makes the locking device 35 press downwards towardsthe stop device 29.

In the operating position, the gear lever 7, as depicted in FIG. 2, hasa substantially vertical position in the cab 1 to make it possible tooperate the vehicle's gearbox. In order to lower the gear lever 7, thehand control 42 is pulled upwards relative to the gear lever 7. As thehand control 42 is connected to the locking device 35, the lockingsurface 38 of the latter is lifted from locking abutment against thesecond stop surface 37 on the stop device 26, after which the gear lever7 can be pivoted to the substantially horizontal position. The gearlever 7 will then be in a position which makes it easier for the vehicledriver to move between the different sides of the vehicle and any bedsituated in the cab without being hindered by the gear lever. The finalstage of raising the gear lever 7 back to the operating position makesthe arcuate surface 39 of the locking device press against the upperportion of the stop device 26. The flexibility of the spring device 45will then make the locking device 35 rise to such an extent as to enableit to pass the upper portion of the stop device 26. When the lockingdevice 35 has passed the stop device 26, the spring device 45 pressesthe locking device 35 down to locking abutment against the second stopsurface 37 on the stop device, whereupon the gear lever 7 will be backin its position of use.

The above description certainly refers to a highly advantageousembodiment but the invention may nevertheless not be limited to thatembodiment but may within the scope of the patent claims below bemodified in a number of alternative embodiments.

In the embodiment described, two gear lever elements 17,18 are hinged toone another but it is of course possible to design the gear changemechanism so that the gear lever 7 hinges in the region between the gearlever 7 and the movement-transmitting device 8, without departing fromthe concept of the invention. It is of course possible to lower the gearlever 7 to a position other than a horizontal position and it is ofcourse possible to lower the gear lever 7, in other directions thanforwards as in the embodiment described, without departing from theconcept of the invention.

The embodiment described uses a disengaging device 41 which acts uponthe locking device 35 in the longitudinal direction of the gear lever 7in order to free the gear lever elements from one another. In analternative embodiment it is of course possible to use a disengagingdevice 41 which shifts the locking device 35 from the stop device 26 bysome means other than axial shifting of the locking device 35. Onepossible way may be to provide the disengaging device 41 with a leverarm or the like so that the locking device 35 is pivoted from the stopdevice 26 or shifted in some other manner from the stop device 26 so asto provide sufficient clearance between the locking parts 35,26.

What is claimed is:
 1. A gear change mechanism for a vehicle having agear box for vehicle operation, the gear change mechanism comprising: agear lever supported in the vehicle to move therein, the gear leverhaving a pivot hinge along its length, a gear lever element at one sideof the pivot hinge, the gear lever element being pivotable around thehinge to raise and lower the gear lever; the gear lever having a part atthe other side of the pivot hinge, a movement transmitting deviceconnected to the part of the gear lever, the movement transmittingdevice being operable for transmitting gear change movements frommovement of the gear lever to the gear box; the gear lever also beingraisable in the vehicle relative to the movement transmitting device soas not to move the transmitting device as the gear lever is raised, andthe gear lever being lowerable relative to the movement transmittingdevice so as not to move the movement transmitting device as the gearlever is lowered; a locking mechanism for engaging and locking the gearlever element to the movement transmitting device when the gear lever israised; a disengaging device connected with the locking mechanism andoperable for releasing the locking mechanism for disconnecting the gearlever from the movement transmitting device permitting lowering of thegear lever relative to the movement transmitting device; and a stopdevice positioned to be engaged by the gear lever element when the gearlever element is raised for stopping raising movement of the gear leverelement; wherein the stop device includes a first stop surfacepositioned for being abutted by the gear lever element as the gear leverelement is raised, the stop device includes a second stop surface whichis abutted against by the locking mechanism, and with the lockingmechanism against the second stop surface and the gear lever elementagainst the first stop surface, the gear lever element is locked in theraised position.
 2. The gear change mechanism of claim 1, wherein thestop device has a first side on which the first stop surface is definedand has a second side on which the second stop surface is defined. 3.The gear change mechanism of claim 2, wherein the first and second stopsurfaces are on opposite sides of the stop device.
 4. The gear changemechanism of claim 2, wherein the stop device has a disc shape.
 5. Thegear change mechanism of claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism includesa locking device having a locking surface for lockingly abutting againstthe second stop surface, and the locking device includes an arcuatesurface for easing the locking of the gear lever element.
 6. The gearchange mechanism of claim 5, further comprising a control device firmlyconnected to the gear lever element, and the control device having anaperture through which the locking device is movable between a lockingposition at the stop device and an unlocking position away from the stopdevice.
 7. The gear change mechanism of claim 5, wherein the disengagingdevice is connected to the locking mechanism and the disengaging deviceis movable to a first position which enables the locking mechanism tolock the gear lever element in the raised position and is movable to asecond position which disengages the locking mechanism for enabling thegear lever element to be lowered.
 8. The gear change mechanism of claim7, further comprising a spring connected with the disengaging device forurging the disengaging device toward the first gear lever elementlocking position.
 9. A gear change mechanism for a vehicle having a gearbox for vehicle operation, the gear change mechanism comprising: a gearlever supported in the vehicle to move therein, the gear lever having apivot hinge along its length, a gear lever element at one side of thepivot hinge, the gear lever element being pivotable around the hinge toraise and lower the gear lever; the gear lever having a part at theother side of the pivot hinge, a movement transmitting device connectedto the part of the gear lever, the movement transmitting device beingoperable for transmitting gear change movements from movement of thegear lever to the gear box; the gear lever also being raisable in thevehicle relative to the movement transmitting device so as not to movethe transmitting device as the gear lever is raised, and the gear leverbeing lowerable relative to the movement transmitting device so as notto move the movement transmitting device as the gear lever is lowered; astop device positioned to be engaged by the gear lever element when thegear lever element is raised for stopping raising movement of the gearlever element; a locking mechanism for engaging and locking the gearlever element to the movement transmitting device when the gear lever israised, wherein the locking mechanism includes a locking device having alocking surface for lockingly abutting against the stop device, thelocking device including an arcuate surface for easing the locking ofthe gear lever element; a disengaging device connected with the lockingmechanism and operable for releasing the locking mechanism fordisconnecting the gear lever from the movement transmitting devicepermitting lowering of the gear lever relative to the movementtransmitting device; and a control device firmly connected to the gearlever element, the control device including an aperture through whichthe locking device is movable between a locking position at the stopdevice and an unlocking position away from the stop device.